CROSSFIT SUFFOLK: Powered By SPARTAN PERFORMANCE

30
Oct

CROSSFIT SUFFOLK: Powered By SPARTAN PERFORMANCE

                                                                          Ayser and Danielle

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SELF-PROTECTION?  WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

By George Demetriou

Unless you have prevailed during a violent assault or have trained to defend yourself you have no knowledge that can be applied in a real world assault.

Ask anyone what they would do if assaulted and all will have some sort of solution.  What are these solutions based upon?

Most people get their “violence training” from television and movies.  There’s a problem with the TV/Movie “experience”:  TV and movies aren’t real-life.  I know. I know.  This fact is a bit shocking.  Just let that sink in a minute.  Now let’s discuss the real world.

WHAT SELF-PROTECTION IS:

First, we need to have a clear definition of Self-Protection.  Self-Protection is the ability to defend yourself by not only having the physical techniques to do so, but to also have the awareness, the strategy, the will, the capacity and the mindset to do so.

Second, once you have defined what Self-Protection is and you have decided it is in your best interest to explore further, you need to get realistic training.  The training needs to address the tell-tale signs of an assault, fear, the physiological effects of confrontational stress, effective strategies for defending/escaping and of course, sound physical tactics based on real-world experience and research.

Third, we need to understand that we need to keep our sword sharp.  We have to remain well conditioned.  We have to train.  We have to always strive to sharpen our awareness.  We have to practice staying in the present moment.

Without awareness, will, capacity for justifiable violence, and mindset, physical techniques alone will not be effective.

WHAT SELF-PROTECTION TRAINING ISN’T:

A “karate” class where everyone wears a uniform and learns about the customs of an ancient culture.

A step by step attack with a step by step response without any context, set-up or “verbal contact” first.

A class where every type of attack is responded to with a kick to the groin.  (News Flash ladies–Every male attacker expects you to try to kick them between the legs which is why bad guys try never to give you the opportunity.)

A bunch of “tricks” that sound good.

A session consisting of unrealistic situations and unrealistic responses.

All physical techniques with no mention of the mental/emotional aspects.

For the athletic only.

SELF-PROTECTION?  WHY?

Well, it’s like insurance, you hope you never need it, but if you ever need it’s nice to know it’s there!  Folks who never consider Self-protection training do so for two main reasons:

1) Denial:  Bad things happen to other people, but wouldn’t happen to me.  You can hear denial from a mile away.  It sounds like this: “I live, shop, go to school, etc. in a safe neighborhood”, “I’m nice to everyone and I mind my own business”, “I don’t engage in behavior that would get me into a violent confrontation”, “Why would anybody attack me while I’m with my children?”.

2) Hope: “I know there are bad people in the world and bad things sometimes happen, but I hope I’m never in a bad situation or run into a bad person”.  Hope is nice to have, but it’s a poor strategy.

We’re not suggesting that people become paranoid or go through life worrying about the threat of violence.  Our message is simple: Should you find yourself in a situation where you need to fight to escape, to survive an assault or to protect your children you will probably have to do so without help.  You’ll be going it alone.  If you never considered this, never trained for it, what options do you have?  What are you prepared to do?

If this is the first time you’re thinking about this then here are your options to the above question:

1) Live in denial.

2) Have hope alone.

3) Acknowledge you are a victim waiting to happen and be totally fine with it.

4) Fight/Escape/Survive

If Option#4 is for you then wouldn’t it be a good idea to have some sound, trained responses and strategies in place before something bad happens.

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We will be holding an Empowering Women Self Protection Seminar on Saturday, November 7th at 1:30 PM!   This will be a 2 hour session that will include lecture and hands-on training done with the utmost care and safety.  This is the first class we’ve done that was brought about by requests from our members.  Please let us know if you’re interested. This class is FREE to members of CrossFit Suffolk/Spartan Performance.  What questions do you have?

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Workout of the Day
Clean Pull 3X2, 105% of Clean 1-rep max
Snatch Pull 3X2, 105% of Snatch 1-rep max

100 double unders
then:
21-15-9
Russian kettlebell swings 24/16 kg
pull-ups
then:
100 double unders

Post your scores to the Whiteboard.

7 Responses

  1. Jen D

    This sounds awesome George! Unfortunately I won’t be around at all this Saturday but if you ever do another class like this I would def be interested!

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